In a swift and unexpected shake-up, President Donald Trump has removed former U.S. Rep. Billy Long as IRS commissioner less than two months after his Senate confirmation, a White House official confirmed Friday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will step in as acting commissioner while Long transitions to his new role as U.S. Ambassador to Iceland.
“It is an honor to serve my friend President Trump, and I am excited to take on my new role… Exciting times ahead!” Long said in a statement on X.
Long’s brief tenure makes him the shortest-serving Senate-confirmed IRS commissioner since the position was created in 1862. His confirmation passed narrowly, 53-44, despite Democratic concerns over his work for a firm tied to fraudulent pandemic-era tax credits and campaign contributions he received after his nomination.
Before Long took office, the IRS cycled through four acting leaders, including one who resigned amid controversy over sharing immigrants’ tax data with ICE. His exit comes amid deep staffing cuts — from 103,000 employees in January to 77,000 by May — driven by the Trump administration’s push to shrink the federal bureaucracy under the Department of Government Efficiency, led by former adviser Elon Musk.
A former auctioneer with no tax administration background, Long represented Missouri in Congress from 2011 to 2023 and once sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS entirely. After leaving Congress, he joined a firm that marketed the employee retention tax credit, later shut down over fraud concerns. Democrats have urged a criminal investigation into his alleged ties to other tax credit schemes.
The Treasury Department has not commented on the move, leaving questions about the IRS’s future direction under Bessent’s interim leadership — and about the political implications of Long’s rapid reassignment to a diplomatic post.